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Various studies have found that fat people suffer profound discrimination at work; they are more likely to be fired or suspended, less likely to be hired in the first place, earn smaller salaries in comparable positions, and receive fewer promotions for comparable job performance.

In another study, 54% of doctors reported that they believe physicians should have the right to withhold treatment from “overweight” or “obese” patients.

You read that horrifying sentence correctly: Of these professionals who have taken an oath to heal, more than half think that it’s perfectly all right to deny healthcare to people seeking healthcare!

These injustices stem from conscious and unconscious bias against heavier folks. Thinness is not only the beauty standard, but also a false gauge of health, wellness, energy, cleanliness, ambition, intelligence, and morality.

A study from the University of Alberta showed that “when a thin person is seen lying down watching television, people assume they’re resting. But when people see an overweight person relaxing, it’s automatically assumed they’re lazy and unmotivated.”

1. Educate Yourself About Health

The BMI scale is inaccurate, misleading, and contains multitudes of limitations and shortcomings.

Studies conducted by researchers for The British Medical Journal have found that “the determination of the categories of normal, overweight, and obese is entirely arbitrary and at odds with the underlying evidence about the association between body mass index and mortality, a fact that destroys the index’s scientific pretensions and diagnostic value.”

Physical activity and nutrition do positively affect good health – but body weight does not!

You cannot tell how much someone exercises or how nutritiously someone eats by their body size. Remember that you cannot make any assumptions about anyone’s health or lifestyle by looking at them.

2. Reassess Your Intentions

So, you can’t make assumptions about people – but even if someone were unhealthy, why is it your business anyways?

It is not true that weight is an indicator of health or that obesity is an “epidemic” that needs a “cure.” However, even if it were true, fat people still deserve to be treated like human beings.

People who fat-shame very often defend themselves by saying that they have the best intentions. They just want to help. They care about healthy lifestyles and the well-being of others.

But think about this for a moment: If you really, truly wanted to help someone make a healthy lifestyle choice, do you really, truly believe that shaming them and dehumanizing them will work?

Get off your high horse. Someone else’s body, even someone else’s health, is never your concern!

You have no right to shame them. You don’t get to define their value.

Ever.

3. Call Out Concern Trolling

Concern trolling is fat-shaming commentary poorly disguised as good intentions. Some examples:

“I’m just concerned about your health!”

“You would be so pretty if you just lost a few pounds.”

“For your own good!”

“Obesity is a huge issue in our community/society, and I think it’s important to address it.”

“I don’t hate fat people, but…”

“I’m with you, but…”

Or any comment that hinges on a “but.”

These comments are not only unhelpful, but quite harmful.

If you hear someone trying to concern troll, intervene where you can. Ask them if it’s any of their business, and ask them why they are being so rude and narrow-minded.

4. Understand the Intersections

Fatness is stigmatized on all bodies – but on certain bodies, it adds a greater burden.

Furthermore, people who struggle with eating disorders may feel that the words “thin privilege” are galling because it is not a privilege to experience marginalization and ableism from an eating disorder.

Julie Feng is a writer and educator who is committed to intersectional social justice work. She is the recipient of the Academy of American Poets Award, the Joan Grayston Poetry Prize, and the Arthur Oberg Prize for Poetry. Her poems have appeared in Pacifica Literary Journal, Mare Nostrum, A River & Sound Review, Quaint Magazine, and more. She is from Taiwan, based in Seattle, and currently living and teaching in Morocco.